Subject: Food Customs and Rituals

From: [email-masked] (Marty Gay)
Date: 29 Nov 1993 22:24:15 -0800

I am currently doing research on an encyclopedia of Food Rituals of North
America. The work will include at least 500 entries relating to the use of
food or drink in traditional rites etc. To give you an idea of what the
book encompasses, to date I have entries on DAY OF THE DEAD, CHOCOLATE,
CORN, CAJUN, NEW YEARS EVE, CANNIBALISM, SALMON FESTIVAL, etc. Obviously
an eclectic mix. 

Can you help me? I need to know what readers of this group consider food
customs of Mexico, The U.S., and Canada. Got any good ones you'd like to
share? If you think yours might be too familial or too specialized, it
probably relates to what someone else does so please post it, and we'll
all get to see. I appreciate any and all suggestions (anecdotes), and I
believe it will make for an interesting thread.

Thanks for the help...
Marty Gay
[email-masked]
-- 
______________________________
Marty Gay

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 08:33:46

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Marty Gay) writes:
>food or drink in traditional rites etc. 

Well, I imagine you know that it is customary (i.e. ritualistic in a sense) for
southerners to eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day. I was always told that
you'd have a day of good luck for every pea.

Also customary is to use cornbread to sop up the "pot likker" remaining in a
mess of collards or turnip greens. 

Cornbread itself of course must be cooked in a very hot cast-iron skillet or
corn-stick pan; that's where you get the crustiness. Yankees have no idea how
to cook cornbread. Period. End of discussion.

I look forward to seeing your book.

george

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From: [email-masked] (leonard zimmermann)
Date: 30 Nov 1993 16:04:46 GMT

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Here in New Orleans, there is also the "ritual" of eating a dish called "Red
Beans and Rice" on Mondays. This tradition stems from something to do with
traditional days for doing certain types of housework and having Sunday as a
"day of rest". (New Orleans is predominantly Catholic). I forget the actual
reason, but since the red beans need to soak for a day and then simmer in a
cooking pot for another day, I remember that this waiting period had something
to do with it.

Also it is traditional to eat Seafood on Fridays. A lot fo Po-Boy (sandwich)
shops still do not sell fried seafood Po-Boys on any day except Friday. There
are MANY more food traditions in this part of the country, from the Creole
traditions in New Orleans, to the Cajun traditions to the South and West of us,
but these two are the most predominant and persist strongly even through today.

Hope this helps some!
Lenny Zimmermann
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 13:25:03

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Dorothy J Heydt) writes:
>In article <[email-masked]>,
> <[email-masked]> wrote:
>>
>Oh, I dunno, mine is pretty good.  I put the iron skillet into the oven
>to heat with a stick of butter in it.  Mix the rest of the batter, haul
>out the skillet, pour most of the melted butter into it, mix quickly
>and pour the batter into the pan.  Then back into the oven.  It winds
>up not only crusty, but rich as the devil, which is why I don't make it
>very often.

Oh, Dorothy, I meant to cast no aspersions on you or anyone in particular. Your
method is actually very similar to the method I learned as Proper. I would use
bacon grease (and considerable less of it!), but heating the iron skillet until
very hot is the key. The light, cakey, *sweetened* stuff cooked in an 8-inch
aluminum pan is but a shadow of True Cornbread, and is what I have generally
been served out

My apologies to you and to any Yankees who are sufficiently enlightened as to
the True Way. :)

george "notso" suttle

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From: [email-masked] (Sharen A. Rund)
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1993 16:05:54 GMT

John E. Taylor III ([email-masked]) wrote:
: In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Marty Gay)
: wrote, in part:

: >
: > I am currently doing research on an encyclopedia of Food Rituals of North
: > America.  To date I have entries on DAY OF THE DEAD, CHOCOLATE,
: > CORN, CAJUN, NEW YEARS EVE, CANNIBALISM, SALMON FESTIVAL, etc. Obviously
: > an eclectic mix.
: >
: > I need to know what readers of this group consider food
: > customs of Mexico, The U.S., and Canada. Got any good ones you'd like to
: > share?

: Southern traditions that I've run into include
: CHRISTMAS - We didn't get to open presents until after breakfast, which
: consisted of Oyster Stew.  This tradition was old enough that oysters had
: been a great delicacy, probably enjoyed only this once per year.  The stew
: was a standard one with a milk base, some butter, a bit of paprika, and
: some of the oyster liquor, heated, with the oysters added at the end and
: cooked just long enough to let the edges ripple.

: NEW YEARS - The first thing one ate after the stroke of the new year was
: blackeyed peas.  Since they're not great by themselves, people tended to
: create great recipes, e.g. Hoppin' John (which should be published in any
: good Southern cookbook).  This derived from the blackeyed peas being a dish
: of poverty, and this reminder of one's humble beginnings brought luck for
: the coming year.  "A dollar for every pea you eat" was one of the sayings.

There's an excellent story on on Hoppin John (with recipes) in the 
December issue of  Smithsonian

: CORN - Has anybody ever come up with a recipe for whole hominy that made
: the stuff edible?

: If I think of more, I'll pass it along.  I'd be interested in seeing the
: final product.

: John Taylor
: Internet:  [email-masked]

--
____________    __      ____________  "They that can give up essential
\_____     /   /_ \     \     _____/  liberty to obtain a little
 \_____    \____/  \____/    _____/  temporary safety deserve
  \_____                    _____/  neither liberty nor safety."
     \___________  ___________/          --Benjamin Franklin
               /    \           ALL disclaimers apply ....
               ~~~~~~

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From: [email-masked] (Daniel Paul Checkman)
Date: 1 Dec 1993 17:31:26 GMT

[email-masked] (Bob Simmonds) writes:

>Marty...I don't know if this would fit into your study, but I have always
>been interested in the "timing" of the salad course around the country. I
>have been in places where it is served before the entree, with it, and
>after it.
>-- 
>Bob Simmonds  - Dr. R.T. Simmonds
>190 East Beach Rd.  Nordland, WA 98358-9622
>206-385-2110

For all it's worth, I always eat my salad after the entree if I'm on my own
time, but that's a matter of not being willing to let the rest of my food go
cold.  Actually, I'm curious to find out what the average time is that people
start their dinners.  For example, I eat around 7pm or 8pm at home (more like
5:30 at school).  Anyhow, for a food custom/ritual, you may want to look at 
Shabbat dinners (Friday nights) and the difference between customs here and
overseas, particularly in the dishes served, and whether it is a big affair
or not.  In my case, my family will occasionally get together with another 
family and serve a typical chicken or brisket dinner, and enjoy each other's
company (along with lighting candles and some singing).

I think another rather common custom that you may want to research is the heavy
use of coffee and tea in the mornings at breakfast.  Also, the use of
coffee as a dessert would be an interesting thing to look into, along with the
growing popularity of the coffee bean in Seattle.

Yet another custom that seems unique to North America, at least in the way it
is done, is the barbecue.  To go even further, how about the ritualistic
tailgate at sporting events?

Well, that's my proverbial $0.02 worth.
:-Dan

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From: [email-masked] (Diane Duane)
Date: Wed, 01 Dec 1993 18:54:23 GMT

>: the coming year.  "A dollar for every pea you eat" was one of the sayings.

We used to have something similar to this in our family, but it was
herring.  (There were a lot of German customs and food preferences
in my family, and as far as I know they came down in my mother's
side of the family, even though she was born in Maryland of Scots
and English ancestry.)  You had to eat herring on New Year's Eve
because it was "something poor", and if you ate something poor
then, you would be rich in the year to come.  Good old-fashioned
sympathetic magic in reverse.  We usually wound up with rollmop
herring done in sour cream.  Best! D. 

Diane Duane / Potter's Pasture / Kilbride / Wicklow / Ireland
 "A little science...a little magic...a little chicken soup."
               Also on Compu$erve:  73200,3112

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From: [email-masked] (Henry Troup)
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 14:23:27 GMT

|> book encompasses, to date I have entries on DAY OF THE DEAD, CHOCOLATE,
|> CORN, CAJUN, NEW YEARS EVE, CANNIBALISM, SALMON FESTIVAL, etc. Obviously
|> an eclectic mix. 

Well, there's WEDDING CAKE - couples feeding each other messily, people
who sleep on it, people who save parts of it for future baptisms.

CHRISTMAS and THANKSGIVING and BIRTHDAY CAKE come to mind.

If food includes drink, there's a whole lot more, of course.

Do you have an entry on chruch suppers and socials? The significance of
jellied salad in the church supper would make a good PhD thesis.

You have the Red Velvet Cake and $250 Cookie Recipe stories, I guess? If
not, consult alt.folklore.urban.  Come to think of it, consult a.f.u 
anyway.

How does a food custom differ from a distinctive dish? Is "poutine" 
(French fires, gravy, cheese curd) a custom or a dish?
Is the fact that Canadians often put vinegar on fries and USians usually
don't a custom?

You need a whole chapter on barbeque.

The ravings of ...

-- 
Henry Troup - [email-masked] (Canada) - BNR owns but does not share my opinions
   Genevieve Bergeron . Helene Colgan . Nathalie Croteau . Barbara Daigneault
     Anne-Marie Edward . Maud Haviernick . Barbara Maria Kueznick . Maryse
   Laganiere . Maryse Leclair . Anne-Marie Lemay . Sonia Pelletier . Michele
		  Richard . Annie St-Arneault . Annie Turcotte